Latest news with #CDU
Time of India
20 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Germany to raise minimum wage to €14.60 by 2027
AP image Germany is set to raise its hourly minimum wage to €14.60 ($17.11) by 2027, a government-appointed commission decided on Friday. The wage increase will take place in two stages. First, it will be increased from €12.82 per hour to €13.90 at the beginning of 2026. It will then increase again by €0.70 a year later. This means German workers would typically earn close to €2,500, making it the second-highest minimum wage in the European Union after Luxembourg, which mandates a monthly minimum of €2,638. Three other EU countries also have a national minimum wage higher than €2,000 per month: Belgium, the Netherlands and Ireland. Who decided to raise the minimum wage? Germany's minimum wage commission is made up of top representatives from unions and employers. It votes on wage adjustments every two years, taking into account the growth in incomes. The commission's proposal must be implemented by the labor ministry. In the lead-up to February's election, the Social Democrats (SPD) campaigned on raising the minimum wage. The party is now the junior member in a coalition with the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). "It's good that the minimum wage commission has reached a consensus," CDU general secretary Carsten Linnemann told Germany's DPA news agency. "This is social partnership in action and shows that the commission works. Setting wages will remain a matter for the collective bargaining partners in the future."
Bloomberg
20 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
German Coalition Risks Conflict Over Contentious Minimum Wage
An independent commission agreed Germany's statutory minimum wage should be increased in two steps to €14.60 ($17.11) in 2027, in a move that could stoke discord in Chancellor Friedrich Merz's ruling coalition. In their blueprint for government, Merz's conservative CDU/CSU bloc and his Social Democrat partners agreed that a minimum wage of €15 an hour was achievable already next year — a key SPD demand.
Local Germany
2 days ago
- Politics
- Local Germany
Germany to stop funding Mediterranean sea migrant rescues
The foreign ministry under the previous coalition, headed by the Greens minister Annalena Baerbock, had provided substantial financial support for NGOs that rescue migrants seeking to head to Europe from Africa. That had drawn criticism from the centre-right CDU party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz that took power in May, and sparked a row with Rome since many of the rescued migrants were brought ashore in Italy. The German government provided two million euros ($2.3 million) last year to organisations including SOS Humanity and SOS Mediterranee for rescuing migrants who ran into trouble, the ministry source said. In the first quarter of this year, sea rescue NGOs received about 900,000 euros in government funding. "The federal government does not plan to provide further financial support to non-governmental organisations involved in civilian sea rescue," the ministry source told AFP. The withdrawal of funding comes as Merz's new government pursues a crackdown on irregular immigration, seeking to combat the growing appeal of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The Green party criticised the move as a "disastrous decision" by the CDU and its junior coalition partner, the centre-left SPD. "The coalition is predictably exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean and causing human suffering," Greens lawmaker Britta Hasselmann told AFP. Gorden Isler, chairman of the sea rescue NGO Sea-Eye, said the move sent a "catastrophic signal". Financial support for Sea-Eye had helped the group conduct missions and save lives, he said. Advertisement "Now we might have to remain in port despite emergencies at sea," he said. The news came a week after 21 maritime rescue groups called on Berlin to continue supporting their operations, and urged the European Union to provide substantial funding for rescue patrols and arrival centres. The organisations said they had rescued more than 175,000 people from the Mediterranean over the past 10 years. A row erupted between Germany and Italy over the sea rescues in 2023, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni writing a letter to then chancellor Olaf Scholz complaining about Berlin funding the operations. Tech billionaire Elon Musk even waded into the row, saying the Berlin-backed sea rescue operations could be seen as an "invasion" of Italy. Musk, who used to be a key adviser to US President Donald Trump, vocally backed the AfD ahead of elections in February, in which the party came second and scored a record result. © Agence France-Presse
Malay Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Germany to cut funds for Mediterranean migrant rescues, sparking outcry
BERLIN, June 26 — Germany's conservative-led government will stop funding groups that rescue migrants in the Mediterranean, a foreign ministry source said Wednesday, prompting opposition parties to warn that the decision could worsen a 'humanitarian crisis'. 'The federal government does not plan to provide further financial support to non-governmental organisations involved in civilian sea rescue,' the source told AFP. The foreign ministry under the previous coalition, headed by the Greens minister Annalena Baerbock, had provided substantial financial support for NGOs that rescue migrants seeking to head to Europe from Africa, often in rickety boats. That had drawn criticism from the centre-right CDU party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz that took power in May, and sparked a row with Rome since many of the rescued migrants were brought ashore in Italy. In 2024, the German government provided €2 million (RM9.9 million) in funding to organisations including SOS Humanity and SOS Mediterranee for conducting rescues of migrants who ran into trouble in the Mediterranean, the ministry source said. In the first quarter of this year, sea rescue NGOs received about €900,000 in government funding, it said. The withdrawal of funding comes as Merz's new government pursues a crackdown on irregular immigration, seeking to combat the growing appeal of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The Green party criticised the move as a 'disastrous decision by the CDU' and its junior coalition partner, the centre-left SPD. 'The coalition is predictably exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean and causing human suffering,' Greens lawmaker Britta Hasselmann told AFP. Gorden Isler, chairman of the sea rescue NGO Sea-Eye, said the move sent a 'catastrophic signal'. Financial support for Sea-Eye had helped the group conduct 'missions and saved lives. Now we might have to remain in port despite emergencies at sea,' he said. — AFP
Al-Ahram Weekly
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Germany to stop funding Mediterranean sea migrant rescues - International
Germany's conservative-led government will stop funding groups that rescue migrants in the Mediterranean, a foreign ministry source said Wednesday, prompting opposition parties to warn that the decision could worsen a "humanitarian crisis". The foreign ministry under the previous coalition, headed by the Greens minister Annalena Baerbock, had provided substantial financial support for NGOs that rescue migrants seeking to head to Europe from Africa. That had drawn criticism from the centre-right CDU party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz that took power in May, and sparked a row with Rome since many of the rescued migrants were brought ashore in Italy. The German government provided two million euros ($2.3 million) last year to organisations including SOS Humanity and SOS Mediterranee for rescuing migrants who ran into trouble, the ministry source said. In the first quarter of this year, sea rescue NGOs received about 900,000 euros in government funding. "The federal government does not plan to provide further financial support to non-governmental organisations involved in civilian sea rescue," the ministry source told AFP. The withdrawal of funding comes as Merz's new government pursues a crackdown on irregular immigration, seeking to combat the growing appeal of the far-right Alternative für Germany (AfD) party. 'Catastrophic signal' The Green party criticised the move as a "disastrous decision" by the CDU and its junior coalition partner, the centre-left SPD. "The coalition is predictably exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean and causing human suffering," Greens lawmaker Britta Hasselmann told AFP. Gordon Isler, chairman of the sea rescue NGO Sea-Eye, said the move sent a "catastrophic signal". Financial support for Sea-Eye had helped the group conduct missions and save lives, he said. "Now we might have to remain in port despite emergencies at sea," he said. The news came a week after 21 maritime rescue groups called on Berlin to continue supporting their operations, and urged the European Union to provide substantial funding for rescue patrols and arrival centres. The organisations said they had rescued more than 175,000 people from the Mediterranean over the past 10 years. A row erupted between Germany and Italy over the sea rescues in 2023, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni writing a letter to then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz complaining about Berlin funding the operations. Tech billionaire Elon Musk even waded into the row, saying the Berlin-backed sea rescue operations could be seen as an "invasion" of Italy. Musk, who used to be a key adviser to US President Donald Trump, vocally backed the AfD ahead of elections in February, in which the party came second and scored a record result. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
